What Just Happened
by FunnyGinger08
Summary: While heading back to Earth, the Infinity has a malfunction (due to a Forerunner artifact on board). When they exit slipspace theyre in a whole other world. Sorry for crappy summary, but I like simple summaries. No flames.
1. Chapter 1

What Just Happened?

Chapter One

A.N.: Okay, so this is a response to my one of my own challenges, which is the standard someone from the Halo Universe goes to the Avenger (or Marvel) Universe. But instead of just one person, it's the UNSC Infinity. So, anyway, here's the story.

Captain Thomas Lasky sighed as he took a sip of his coffee, watching the activity outside of Requiem, the Forerunner planet that he had been commencing operations on for the better part of two years. Pelican dropships were flying from within Requiem to the _Infinity_, in preparation of the massive five-kilometer ship leaving Requiem to go back to the Sol System for more upgrades, all of which mightily impressed Lasky. He put his thoughts back to the current task, which was the Infinity Battle Group being replaced by a Battle Group led by Captain Kat Mackenzie. This new Battle Group consisted of a Halcyon-class Light Cruiser, twelve Paris-class Frigates, and three Obsidian-class Destroyers. Unlike the Infinity Battle Group, Mackenzie's Battle Group would be able to provide ground support for operations on the ground. He turned towards the bridge door when he heard the familiar sound of Commander Sarah Palmer walking.

She was still in her armor, although her helmet was off. Palmer walked straight to the holotable, and quickly input a few commands to show the casualty rates of the Spartan teams on the ground. During the operations, three teams in total were lost, with one Spartan from another team as well. Castle Team, Domino Team, and Horse Team were all wiped out during operations, although Horse was killed during a Pelican crash. One member of Apex Team was killed during Operation: Land Grab, but the rest of the team was unharmed during the rest of the operations. For the Spartans, this was a major blow for most of them, as they believed they invincible. He listened to her reports of the casualties, and the operational successes and failures, standard procedure for UNSC personnel at the end of a tour of duty.

When she finished, he said," Well, good job, Palmer. Requiem is as secure as it is most likely going to be. Tell your Spartans that they did a good job as well."

Palmer nodded, saluted, and walked out of the bridge when he returned it. He sighed again, and continued to watch the activities outside of the _Infinity_. It took another hour before everything was ready for the slipspace jump, and when it was, he stood from his chair.

He said," Lieutenant Markowitz, take us back to Earth."

Lieutenant Gina Markowitz said," Aye, sir" and activated the slipspace engine, causing a small hole to open up in front of the _Infinity_.

As the massive ship went through the hole, it was suddenly glowing orange. Lasky, after having the same orange glow hit the _Infinity_ multiple times, knew that whatever was happening couldn't be good. As the hole closed behind them and the _Infinity_ was fully within slipspace, only one thought crossed his mind.

Lieutenant Markowitz said it," Ah, shit."

Lasky stood on the bridge of the _Infinity_, watching as Markowitz prepared to exit slipspace. He had made the decision to stay in slipspace until they got to their destination, in case whatever Forerunner Artifact was screwing up the _Infinity_ reacted badly with a sudden change. Two days later, and the _Infinity_ was ready to exit slipspace and back into regular space.

Markowitz said," Exiting slipspace in 3...2...1...now. We are officially in the Sol System."

Lasky looked at the Sol System through the bridge window, and even from the Jovian Moons, he could tell that their location, was not the Sol System. There was no UNSC Home Defense fleet, no shipyards on Mars, no ODPs around Earth, no traffic. No nothing.

He turned to Roland's AI pedestal, and said," Roland. Where the hell are we?"

" We're at the Sol System, Captain. I'm attempting to hack into the systems on Earth to find out what happened."

It took less than a minute for Roland to hack into the systems on Earth, and read all of the information he could get his hands on without raising any alarms. What he learned was amazing.

" Captain, we are indeed in the Sol System. But, there are some complications. I believe that we have arrived in an alternate universe. The year is 2010, and they are still in the War on Terror. It also looks like some of the factions in this world have had success with energy weapons, such as SHIELD or HYDRA. They also have superheroes."

Palmer, who was on the bridge, couldn't believe what she heard," Superheroes?"

" Yes, superheroes. One of them is a man from World War Two named Captain America."

" Are they like our Spartans then?"

" Yes. If Spartans had control over things like weather, or could change into a giant green monster when they're angry."

The bridge crew was silent at these news, before Lasky said," Do you think there's any way we could get back to our own universe?"

" We could try another slipspace jump, but we could end up in another universe."

Lasky sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, as the hopelessness of the situation hit him. The _Infinity_ and its crew were stuck in another universe, or dimension as he listened to Roland muttering to himself, because of a Forerunner Artifact on board. They had no clue if they had been discovered entering the solar system or not, and to get back to their original universe, they would have to conduct another slipspace jump which could send them to a whole different universe. He sighed again, wondering how he would be able to fix this mess, if there was a solution besides just integrating into society.


	2. Chapter 2

What Just Happened

Chapter Two

A.N.: So the response was a lot better than I expected, and so I decided to make this chapter a bit earlier than planned, as I had a lot of freetime this past few days. Hope you like it.

Commander Palmer held onto the railing as she looked outside of the Pelican dropship as it flew low and fast over the Arctic Ocean. In the distance and getting closer by the second, she could see the island that Lasky, Roland, and herself had chosen as the base of operations for a mercenary company, that would be known as Infinity Operations, that they had agreed on as a prudent course of action to help them get integrated into this universe as Lasky had decided it was too risky to attempt the same thing that had sent them here again, as who knew what the next universe would be. With Roland's help, who could access any system without raising alarms within three minutes, except an organization named SHIELD whose own systems would take five minutes for him to access, they had given all of the Marines, Army, and Spartan personnel ID cards and put their names in databases of countries all across the world. After all, it would look suspicious if over 10,000 names were added to the registration of a single country. Even SHIELD, the secret international intelligence service, wouldn't know that these 10,000 people hadn't been in the database before. Roland had done the same with the rest of the personnel onboard the _Infinity_.

The Pelican suddenly slowed as it hovered over the island, and carefully landed on the landing pad that had been set up for the Pelicans bringing in supplies, weapons, and people to the base. She stepped off, followed by the Army Airborne platoon who had been silent through the ride, allowing the Spartan her thoughts. Palmer walked towards the command center, where Lasky was talking to Roland and the Head Scientist of the _Infinity_, Dr. Henry Glassman, about the medical research company that they had decided to set up for additional funds, which would be called Infinity Science, with Lasky as the head of the company like he was the head of Infinity Operations. She heard footsteps approaching her, and turned to see the leader of Apex Team, Lieutenant Junior Grade Austin Hunt.

Palmer said," What's up, Lieutenant?"

" Nothing, Commander. It's just that my team's deploying for a contract in Africa, and I need to hit the armory, and Master Sergeant Horvath won't open up the armory for me without a signed order from either you or Lasky."

" Alright, here."

She uploaded the order to his TACPAD and watched as he ran off to the armory to get the weapons needed. Palmer was only slightly surprised that they already had contracts, considering that this Earth was still in the midst of the War On Terror, and the fact that mercenaries were being hired left and right by intelligence agencies and people who wanted to take matters in their own hands. She out a local Pakistani Taliban leader who had held three British SAS soldiers hostage, and ended up killing them before going back in the shadows, undoubtedly protected by the Pakistani ISI. The contract was from an asset working for the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as Five. They clearly wanted revenge for the killing.

The two Marines guarding the front door of the command center open the door for her as she walks inside, already hearing Lasky, Roland, and Glassman talking over the monitors. Glassman was talking about slowly putting the medical items that the _Infinity_ on the market so that fewer people died from ailments. They couldn't immediately put 26th Century technology on the market, but they could sell less advanced versions of the technology the capital ship had, slowly increasing the advancement of said technology until they were up to date with the technology of the 26th Century. Lasky approved of the idea, and asked how long it would take before they could start selling the technology.

" It will be about three months before we can put stuff out on the market. We can upgrade the technology about once every two or three years, just to avoid suspicions."

" Alright. So Roland suggests that I be the head of Infinity Science, as I'll also be head of Infinity Operations. He says that it's not uncommon in this universe for the heads of research companies also be heads of mercenary companies."

Glassman, who was good friends with Lasky, whined in a joking manner," Why can't I be the head of Infinity Science?"

Lasky chuckled, and said," Who ever heard of the nerd being the head of a company?"

Glassman laughed, and said," Then you would need a trophy wife like all of those other rich men who own research companies."

Lasky, who knew that Palmer was in the room, turned to her and waggled his eyebrows. Palmer giggled at the action, before she quieted herself. Everyone in the room, including herself, was surprised, although some were more surprised than others. The leader of Shadow Team was in a dead faint near the terminal he had been using to get the layout of where his contract, assassinating an Afghan district official who had ties to the Taliban and was pushing back efforts to build a hospital and a school within that district. Both Lasky and Glassman had shock written across their faces, but Lasky quickly schooled his features into his usual straight face, while Glassman made no move to hide his shock. Roland just had a thoughtful look on his holographic face as he tried to figure out what her giggling meant. Palmer hoped he didn't find out.

Lasky said," Well that was unexpected, but anyway Glassman, how long will it take to make the headquarters outside of St. Louis operational?"

Glassman looked at a sheet in front of him before looking up, and said," Estimates are three hours for everything to be moved in, and another hour to be at thirty percent operational capability, with a day to two days to be at a hundred percent capability."

" Good, make sure not to attract too much attention there. Lasky out."

Glassman winked off of the screen, and a map replaced his spot on the screen. It showed a blinking green dot moving towards Pakistan, and when she focused in on the dot, her HUD showed the name of the Pelican that was flying nap of the earth and with its limited stealth capability, and the name of the unit that was with it. She was somewhat surprised to see that it was Apex Team, and that they were already at the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and that they had twelve minutes until they hit the target area.

Lasky caught her attention when he said," So Commander, how are your Spartans doing?"

" They're holding up. Most of them consider it a great adventure, mainly Majestic, while Shadow and Apex are subdued. They don't mind the change, but Hunt and Trotsky have family. The two won't let it disrupt their missions though."

" Good. Make sure that Hunt and Trotsky see a psychiatrist ASAP. What do you think of the security?"

" If there's one thing you can rely on from the Army is security. There's four islands surrounding this island, and they have a battalion on each, with multiple batteries of artillery. If we ever get attacked by sea for some reason, we'll be able to hold them off, and there are multiple batteries of SAMs and can track the best stealth technology available to any other forces in this time period. This island is more secure than the United States of America, as not even a kinetic strike would be able to hit us."

Lasky nodded, and the map of the world that had replaced Glassman's face, was swapped with a helmet camera from one of the Apex Team members. The right-hand screen showed that it was from Hunt's helmet.

Lasky said," Well, let's see how Apex does on Earth."

Lieutenant Austin Hunt, callsign of "Apex One" or just "One" to his team, made his way through the forest, aware of the three other Spartans in GEN2 armor behind him. He checked the map on his HUD to make sure they were going the right way, although he was positive they were. The HUD confirmed it, and he continued through the small forest, which would end with an excellent overwatch position of the house they would be attacking. He made sure to not trip any potential mines or motion sensors that somehow made it past the sensors of his suit, which outlined trip wires, cameras, buried mines, and sniper positions. They had already killed a three-man patrol, who had literally walked right on top of them when one of them accidently stepped on Apex Three, Petty Officer Second Class Carlos Garcia and Apex's sniper. Before the man could react, Carlos had shoved a blade into his throat while shooting the other two Taliban insurgents with a M6C SOCOM. Austin had decided to not use hide spots after that since the other patrols would eventually find the bodies, and the faster they got to the house the better.

Due to the motion sensor on his HUD plus the helmet and the augmentations, he could hear and see another patrol up about twenty meters ahead, rifles slung loosely over his shoulders, confident that no American or Coalition force was in the badlands of Pakistan. Apex Team was about to prove them wrong.

He said," Apex, this is One. Patrol of three, twenty meters at our one. Two, you get the one on the right. Four, the one on the left. I'll take the one in the middle. Three, watch out for any other patrols. We move on three. One. Two. Three."

At three, he fired a quick burst with his M8S, dropping his target, the head almost gone from the rounds starting to flip from the going chipping a branch on the way to the target. The other two patrollers were taken down by headshots as well. He motioned for the team to move towards the house, and after taking down two more patrols in much the same manner, they arrived at the overwatch position. Carlos and Two, Petty Officer Third Class Yvgenny Gorbachev and the team's gunner, both set up on the overwatch position, Carlos with his SRS99-S5 AM and Yvgenny with the M379 LMG. With those two weapons able providing cover from above, Austin had no worries about being killed inside the house, as their HUDs were able to see inside the buildings, and the firepower of Carlos's sniper rifle would be able to shoot through any of the walls and into any of the rooms inside the house. Austin motioned to Four, Petty Officer First Class William Lennox, to follow him down to the back door which would lead into the kitchen. They walked to the edge, bid farewell to the two IVs staying up on the edge of the cliff, and jumped down, landing hard on the grass. Their shields barely went down one percent from the impact, but they quickly went back up to 100%.

They approached the back door, their Promethean Vision systems showing a guard walking into the kitchen, and towards the back door. Austin and Lennox moved fast towards the door, and Austin raised his M8S at it, just as at the guard's head level. When the guard got where the reticule on his HUD showed where his M8S would fire at when he pulled the trigger, Austin made his move. The guard barely had the door open when a 5x23mm round went through his head. Pushing open the door, Austin caught the falling guard and laid him gently down on the table before quickly moving through the kitchen, Lennox behind him with a M6C/SOCOM out. Seeing two more guards in the hallway, he shot both of them in the head and rushing down the hallway to the living room, where there were six more guards, none of them armed. Motioning the guards to Lennox, the two Spartans opened fire. Lennox's .50 caliber magnum rounds tore through the wooden wall between him and the guards while the two M8S SMGs tore through flesh with ease. It barely took three seconds before all of the guards were dead, and Austin rushed up the stairs while Lennox moved to finish clearing the rest of the floor. Two guards at the top of the stairs were shocked to see the armored figure appear around a corner, but before they could react, both of their necks and skulls were broken from being slammed together with such force. Another guard further down the hallway turned to see what the commotion was, but a 14.5x114mm round slammed into his head through the wall. Flashing a quick thumbs-up sign to Carlos, Austin ran down the hallway towards the final room, which was the target's bedroom.

He sprayed both of the side rooms, smirking in satisfaction when he saw the three guards collapse, the Promethean Vision showing they were dead. Checking the room in front of him, he saw two armed guards, packing Micro-Uzi 9mm SMGs, with two more heat signatures, one male and one female, on the bed. Both of them were armed. He switched one of his M7Ss for one of his M6C/SOCOMs, checking to make sure that it had the right ammunition in it. Satisfied, he raised both weapons, and opened fire. The three bursts from his M7S took out both of the guards with head shots, the rounds passing through the wooden door with ease. His two shots from his handgun punctured through the door with ease as well, and hit his two targets. The darts, with a toxin that would knock someone out in three seconds flat, quickly made his target and the woman with him go unconscious. He kicked the door open, and walked over to the bed, checking both of them to see who they were. The male was indeed his target, but just to make sure, he did a quick blood test, and nodded, satisfied that it was his target. Austin quickly checked the room for any intel, and put all of the papers he found in a folder, putting it in the pack he had on his back. A laptop and several cell phones and cameras were put in the pack as well, before he concluded there was no more intel after searching the closet and toilette with his Promethean Vision. He went back to the bed, and tossed both the woman and their target over his shoulders and walked out of the room. When he went back downstairs, he saw Lennox waiting, his BR85HB with a suppressor attached to it, facing the doorway.

When Lennox saw him, he stood up, and motioned to the pack he had on his back, and said," I think we found what the intelligence agencies here would call the jackpot. There's actionable intel on one Usama Bin Laden, in the intel I found. "

" Yeah, I got some pretty good intel as well, about not only Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda, but other groups around the world. Now, let's get the hell out of here. Two, Three, this is One. You guys ready to get the hell out of here?"

" One, Three. We're ready to go, but we got six patrols coming in, and they seem to know something's up. They're just not at the edge of the woods. You might want to get out know, or we could get pulled into a fight."  
" Alright, Three. You're going to have to cover us, as my hands are full. I got the target, and either his wife, mistress, or girlfriend on my shoulders, a pack of intel on my back, and two M8s in my hands. Until we get to the pick-up, I won't be able to do much."

" Roger that, One. We'll pick off those we can without attracting attention now."

" Good. Four, let's get the hell out of here."

The two IVs ran out of the back door, their ears picking up the suppressed shots of Carlos's sniper rifle, and short bursts from Gorbachev's SAW. They ran over to the overwatch position, and with Gorbachev's help got the two knocked out prisoners up, before climbing up themselves. Austin took one of the prisoners, their target, while Gorbachev took the woman, his SAW slung across his back and a M6C in his hand. The team of four started to sprint towards the pick-up, running as fast as they could. They were just about halfway there when the yelling of the Taliban guards started to pick up as they found their dead comrades. About three-quarters of the way there, and they could hear gunshots from far back, and the sound of rounds ripping into trees. Taking a quick look back, he could see that they had found the depressed grass where Carlos and Gorbachev had set up position, and were firing in random directions. There was a gasp over where Gorbachev was, and he looked to see that the woman had been hit in the leg by one of the stray rounds, and in her unconscious state merely gasped instead of yelling out or screaming in pain.

When Apex Team reached the Pelican dropship, they could see a platoon of ODSTs surrounding the clearing, waiting for the Spartans to arrive before commencing clean-up operations, as the Spartans would have to get back to base for more contracts. Austin and Gorbachev placed their prisoners on benches, where Petty Officer 3rd Class Derek West, a corpsman, quickly treated the leg wound with a tourniquet before taking a seat and monitoring her condition. Once all of Apex Team was on board, with Carlos being the last one, sniping one of the insurgent commanders to disrupt activities for the Taliban insurgents, giving the ODSTs a bigger advantage due to the Taliban's confusion at where the shot had come from, the Pelican lifted off. Twenty minutes later, the Pelican had landed outside of Rome, Italy, where a car being driven by a Marine in civilian clothing waited for them. Another Marine was in the back seat, a M8S in his hands. Austin and Gorbachev put the prisoners in the back seat, where they could be watched by the Marines, and waited until the car drove off before getting back on the Pelican, which flew off to the base back in the Arctic for debrief.

Rome, Italy, June 18, 2010, 0030

In a square within Rome, three groups of two were exhausted after having stayed in their cars since 1800 that night, waiting for a rendezvous that wouldn't happen for another week or so at best. So it was to their surprise that a car, a rather plain Ford Explorer, stopped in the middle of the square, the red paint mark on the right, rear corner of the car clearly visible to the six people. One of the groups stepped out of their car, making sure that their car door could be heard closing. The two people who had stepped out of the Explorer looked at what made the noise, nodding at the other two. Walking to the Explore, the group of two that had already been in the square studied the people they were meeting. While in civilian clothes, they screamed military, and by their stance, they weren't used to this kind of work, as they seemed jumpy, and continuously scanning the square and occasionally their hands would twitch towards their hips, as if reaching for a gun. When the group of two got there, they shook their hands with the two from the Explorer, and introduced themselves.

"I'm Hornet, and he's Wasp. Are you two the representatives of Infinity Operations we were told to meet here?"

The two former military men nodded their hands, and said," I'm Zero, and he's Eight. We have the intel you want, along with something extra."

The two agents' eyes lit up, and in a distinct English accent, Hornet said," And what is that something extra?"

" Al Baza's alive. We got him with a female, who was in his bed with him. I believe you said it would be double the amount if we got at least three MBs of data, and triple if we got him alive. Well we got both, so that would mean we get quadruple the amount, am I correct?"

The two agents nodded, and said," That's what we agreed on. Can we see the prisoners?"

The two contractors nodded, and motioned them to follow to the Explorer, where they opened the back door, revealing the two prisoners. Both of the British agents' eyes lit up even more, and one of them gestured at a second car, and two more agents stepped out. They walked over, and after a discussion, picked up the two prisoners and carried them to their car, and one of the agents stayed there while the other went to pick up the intel. Once everything was in their car, they drove off towards who knows where. The remaining two agents turned to them, and handed them a slip of paper, which had a bank account number on it.

Wasp said," That's the account we have your payment in. Call the number on the back, and tell the person who answers it that you're from the St. Louis Sanitation Department. The banker will give you access to the account. Good day to you, sirs."

Both agents walked over to their own car, and drove off, followed by a second car. The two contractors looked at each other, shrugged, and got in the car and drove off as well. And thus began the start of Infinity Operations successful business.


	3. Chapter 3

What Just Happened

Chapter 3

A.N.: So this story's got a lot of positive feedback, a lot more than I expected. Anyway, I'm trying to determine if to get the Chief involved within the story, and what pairings I should do. So, there's going to be a poll up soon, with a whole bunch of different pairings I could do. Please vote!

Director of SHIELD Nick Fury checked the messages that SHIELD had received from the different intelligence organizations of the world. These messages came from intelligence agencies ranging from the American CIA to the Russian SVR and even the Pakistani ISI. As he read through the messages, he made notes on the information contained within. The intelligence ranged from al-Qaeda cells to a plot by former East German Stasi members planning on overthrowing the German government from within. The American CIA had sent him a message regarding an al-Qaeda plot against the French government, using Action-Directe to move people and supplies into France. CIA had sent a warning to the DGSE and GIGN, but both organizations ignored them, believing that the Americans only wanted them to waste resources on a massive hunt for terrorists when there weren't anyway.

The distrust was due to a CIA operation on French soil, where they assassinated a minor member of the government who was an Action-Directe operations coordinator, and had an operation against the French DGSE headquarters planned. Due to the fact that they didn't alert the French government about the operation in case the warning made its way to the Action-Directe operations coordinator, France no longer allowed CIA operations to be based out of France, and DGSE would weekly search the American embassy in an attempt to find the CIA station. Luckily for the CIA, the Station Chief there had moved the station to the British Embassy using an old tunnel system built during the Cold War.

Fury made notes on the intelligence, and decided that since CIA couldn't do anything, the French were ignoring the warning, and none of the other intelligence agencies were able to do anything, he decided that SHIELD would handle it. He sighed, and wrote down the team that would be sent to handle it, before reading the intelligence sent from the British MI6. Halfway through the message, his interest was piqued when he saw that a mercenary company known as Infinity Operations had captured the Pakistani Taliban kingpin, al-Fulani. Fulani had been responsible for the capture and murder of several British SAS operators, and had gone underground immediately after. Not even SHIELD had a fix on his location for more than a day, which was sadly not enough time to set up an op against him.

Curious, he looked up Infinity Operations, and saw nothing abnormal. The company's owner, former Marine Lieutenant Thomas Lasky, had started up the company after graduating from Harvard University. Due to a family inheritance, Lasky had been able to fund the company and slowly start buying the equipment and hiring the mercenaries who would make up his company. Because there were no contracts sent to the mercenary company, the buying started slowing down, and it looked like the company would collapse into bankruptcy. About three days ago, an unknown source had given a large monetary donation to Infinity Operations, along with giving them the deed to an island in the Arctic Ocean near Antarctica. Although somewhat suspicious, Fury wasn't really concerned as the actions didn't match up with the standard criminally-oriented mercenary company. Due to the donation, Lasky was able to quickly buy everything they needed, including old Huey helicopters and modified SUVs. With everything they needed, Infinity Operations was set up for business.

The first day after having everything, Infinity Operations undertook a total of ten contracts, including the contract against Fulani. MI6 had quietly set up a contract against Fulani in an open contract site, where mercenaries could choose any contract they wanted. Infinity Operations had been the only mercenary company to choose the contract. Within sixteen hours after the contract was accepted, a British MI6 wetwork team had met with two people from Infinity Operations to collect Fulani, who was alive. Six had immediately paid close attention to the traffic coming from the Taliban, and wasn't surprised when the chatter increased. With the kingpin taken down alive, the Taliban made mistakes allowing SAS assaulters to take down many operations, and eventually the kingpin would break and give information to Six.

This contract was only one of ten high-risk contracts. These contracts were capture-or-kill contracts against two Somali Warlords, an Abu Sayyaf cell leader, another Taliban kingpin based out of Afghanistan, a LeT (Lakshar-e-Taiba) operations chief based out of the capital of Pakistan, and multiple others, including a Pakistani ISI representative who met with terrorist group who were against India. Fury nodded in approval at the operations, before continuing to look at the file. He saw that Lasky had also started up Infinity Research two years ago, but they hadn't put any products out on the market. The Director made a note of interest on the Infinity Operations page, before going through all of the messages, and not finding anything else of importance, closed the computer he was at down, and walked out of the room, where his Deputy, Maria Hill, was waiting for him.

Fury said," Anything from our agents?"

Hill said," Yes. Hawkeye has reported in, saying that the Indian LeT operations chief has arrived in Calcutta, and has sent the message to the ISI's go-to man. He estimates that it will be six hours until they meet. Black Widow and her team are on their way back from Dubai, with the Banker in hand. We have a team waiting for them so the Banker can be turned over to the Americans. He's already told Romanov and her team everything, but it's the Americans who got the ball rolling. Fucking Yankees."

Hill, who had been a member of the British MI6 before being transferred to SHIELD, disliked the Americans, although she did have respect for their operations. Fury thought over what she said, and the new mercenary company out there came to mind.

Coming to a decision, he said," Alright. Tell Hawkeye to take out the primary target, and tell him to take out the secondary target as well if possible. He must not get caught, as India and Pakistan will be at each other's throats, and could very well go into nuclear war. I want Romanov leading the French operation. And send a contract to the newly famous mercenary company, Infinity Operations. Have it be one of our medium targets. I want to see how skilled this company truly is."

Hill said," Will do, Sir. Anything else?"

The Director said," Actually, yes. See if we can get ahold of Fulani for a bit. The Brits won't like it, but it needs to be done to see if there's anything they missed."

Hill nodded and said," Yes, sir."

She walked away, and Fury walked to his personal stateroom to contact the Council, as he knew they would be most interested in the capture of Fulani, and by extension, the newly famous Infinity Operations. He sighed; he really did not want to talk to the Council.

Halfway across the world, in Calcutta, India, the man known as Hawkeye watched his target from the rooftops as he made his trek through the city. The target was an employee of the Indian government with access to a lot of classified intelligence, and was an operations chief of the LeT. He was meeting with the Pakistani ISI's go-to middle man for operations dealing with Islamist terrorist groups. Hawkeye watched as the man entered a café where the LeT operations chief sat far enough away from the wall of windows that Hawkeye couldn't see him. Deciding that viewing the target was worth the risk of being spotted, he moved his position to a building across the street from the café and a couple floors down from his current spot.

He watched as the middle man entered the café and sat down with the operations chief, starting the meeting. Hawkeye watched for a few minutes, until his cell phone vibrated. Cursing that he forgot to turn it off, and glad that the middle man and operations chief didn't have any guards watching the meeting as well, he checked the text message, seeing it was from Hill. Take down Primary ASAP. Secondary if possible. Don't get caught. Extraction waiting at Gandhi Private Airport in three days."

Hawkeye checked to make sure it was authentic, and when he confirmed it was, continued to watch the meeting while trying to find a way to get close enough without raising suspicion to make the kill. Coming up with a way, he quickly moved down to street level, where he bought a paper from a newspaper stand. He walked towards the café, where he sat down on a bench from which he could observe the meeting without being obvious. Pretending to read the paper, a Wall Street Journal, he observed the meeting, and when they stood, he finished reading the last page, standing up as well and walking towards the café's front entrance. The two targets remained unaware that they were going to die, and when they got to the door, so did he.

In the midst of the crowd entering and exiting, Hawkeye raised his suppressed SIG Sauer P220 and aimed it at the LeT operation chief's head, pulling the trigger. Before the middle man could react, another bullet found its way into his skull and brain, killing him instantly. A third shot made sure the operations chief was dead, before he screamed with the other civilians, quickly putting the suppressed pistol in his coat pocket, and running with the crowd. When the police showed up, there was no evidence of who did the killing, and due to the close quarters and no gun shot, it was led to believe that it was one of the local gangs.

Twenty blocks away from the killing, Hawkeye lay on the floor, feeling his eyes droop. Texting a confirmation of mission success to Hill, he rolled over and fell asleep.

Unknown to Hawkeye, a man famous throughout his organization was watching him sleep from across the street, his scope's reticle resting on the SHIELD agent's chest. The man known as JOKER was invisible to the world on his perch, active camouflage allowing him to blend in against the wall as he looked at Hawkeye through his thermal scope. He continued to watch him for a couple of minutes, occasionally looking at other parts of the hotel and the street below to see if there were any persons of interest. A beep sounding in his ear let him know that someone back on the _Infinity_ was contacting him, and he activated the mike.

JOKER said," JOKER here. What's up?"

Roland, the _Infinity_'s AI, said," Anything interesting in Calcutta? Lasky wants an update from all agents in the field."

JOKER said," It's all good on my end. I got eyes on the SHIELD agent known as Hawkeye as we speak. Does Lasky want me to just keep watching him?"

The AI was quiet for a moment, and then said," Yeah, just keep watching him. It won't do us any good to kill the SHIELD agent and have the organization searching for the killers. Even with me protecting us, it would only be a matter of time before they discovered it was us who killed the man."

JOKER nodded his head, and said," Got it. Is there anything else?"

"Nope, just keep watching the assassin. Beware though, that Pakistani ISI and Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) are going to be all over Calcutta for the next few weeks."

"Got it. I'll make sure to be extra cautious. JOKER out."

The ONISAD operative continued to watch Hawkeye while scanning the streets for any potential threats. He sighed, getting ready for a long night.


	4. Chapter 4

What Just Happened

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I do not own anything dealing with the Halo series or Marvel.

(Six Months Later)

Thomas Lasky sat in the back of a Mercedes-Benz S600i heading towards Stark Industries, where he was meeting Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, the new CEO of Stark Industries. There was an attorney with him, who was hired to check over the documents that would be presented at the meeting to make sure it was a fair deal, as he suspected Potts would try to have Stark Industries take over Infinity Research and use words that nobody but someone with major experience in law would understand. But he suspected that the attorney he hired had been bought out, as both Stark Industries and SHIELD wanted the technology that the research company was releasing into the market, especially the medical and weapons technology. There was one other in the Mercedes besides him, the driver, and the attorney, and that was an ODST who was assigned as Lasky's bodyguard today.

The bodyguard turned, said," Sir, here's today's briefing. Mr. Jenkins," Roland's code-name around those who weren't part of the Infinity's crew was Mr. Jenkins," thought you would like to know what's been going on recently."

The ODST handed him the briefing, which was written in Russian so the attorney couldn't read it. He read through it, making notes on a notepad, which he wrote in Mandarin so the attorney couldn't read it either. Part of his training at Corbulo was a mastery of languages, and he even knew how to speak the Elite's tongue somewhat. Among the briefing were several successful contracts, including the poisoning of one Hugo Chavez, who wasn't dead yet as it would be suspicious if he suddenly dropped to the ground, dead. The briefing also included the planned attack and break-in of the Infinity Research facility in New York by HYDRA and SHIELD. HYDRA obviously wanted the technology for evil purposes, while SHIELD thought that the tech would give them an advantage over any enemies. The guards at the facility, who were all Airborne, would take any attackers prisoner, and Crimson and Majestic teams were both standing by in case the guards were overwhelmed, no matter how slim of a chance there was of that happening.

The reason for all of this attention from HYDRA, SHIELD, and the rest of the world was the release of a toned down version of biofoam, and a version of the MA5 series made into a less than stellar weapon known as the MA1 series. Despite it being less than stellar, compared to the current weapons tech that their own universe had available, it was currently the best rifle out there, even better than the latest rifles from Stark Industries. It was obvious that organizations such as HYDRA, SHIELD, Stark Industries, and even the Ten Rings would want the blue prints for any other medical and weaponry that the company was making.

He looked up from the briefing as he felt the car slow and turn into the guest parking lot of Stark Industries. They had to pass through a security checkpoint, where there was a guard who checked their passes to make sure they were supposed to be there. Lasky noted the three alarm buttons that were inside the shack, along with the two M16 rifles inside as well. One had the symbol for Stark Industries, which would undoubtedly alert the rest of the security, along with Tony Stark, the Iron Man. Another was for the military, which would most likely send the National Guard in to provide any assistance needed. The final button had the SHIELD logo on it, and it didn't take much imagination to figure out the response if that was pressed.

When they parked, another security guard escorted him, the attorney, and the ODST turned bodyguard into the building. It took them a couple of minutes to get to the room where the Stark legal team would present the documents that would settle the business deal. Once they entered, Lasky immediately noted the two SHIELD agents standing in the back, Agents Natasha Romanoff, currently going as Natalie Rushman, and Phil Coulson. They were behind the Stark Industries legal team, and he noted that they were on either side of Potts as well. He sat down with the attorney on their side of the table, with the ODST standing behind them. The Stark legal team, after a couple of minutes of conversation, passed two sets of documents over. Lasky and the attorney read them over, with Lasky quickly noting that they gave Stark Industries everything while Infinity Research got nothing. They had cleverly written it, but Lasky had taken a graduate course in law the easy way, with Roland downloading the information to his brain by way of the cybernetics he had.

His suspicions that the attorney had been bought out was confirmed when he said," Mr. Lasky, I believe that this deal is good."

Lasky chuckled, and said," I don't appreciate you buying out my attorney, Miss Potts. It seems to me that Stark Industries gets everything out of this deal, while my company gets nothing. Full access to our projects, research, networks, everything. And we don't even get access to the parking lots here. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to say no to this Miss Potts. Next time you want to make a deal, make it worth my time to even come here. And Mr. Jameson, I'm going to have to your boss that you sold me out."

The attorney, Mr. Jameson, began to sweat as he knew that he would lose his job as the company prided itself on never betraying a client, unless if they were doing something against the law of course. Potts also began to sweat slightly, as she knew that Stark Industries needed access to Infinity Research if they wanted to stay ahead in the game of business. Coulson and Romanov stared at Lasky, trying to figure him out. Lasky didn't let it affect him as many ONI interrogations had taken place before he was assigned to the _Infinity_ and the SHIELD agents were amateurs compared to ONI, especially ONISAD agents such as JOKER.

He stood up, and said," I'm afraid that Infinity Research is going to have to leave the table, Miss Potts. At least until you decide to not rip us off. Mr. Jameson, I'm sure you can find your own way back to your workplace."

With that, Lasky left the room, the ODST following him out. They got to the parking lot fairly quickly, with only one guard trying to stop them under Potts' orders. The guard was currently on the floor with a broken arm. In the parking lot, the ODST who was driving was talking to the roving security guard, bidding the man good-bye when he saw Lasky and the other ODST. When they were in the car and out of Stark Industries property, Lasky pulled out a prepaid cellular phone, dialing a number from memory. A few seconds later, the phone was picked up.

Sarah Palmer's voice said," I take it that they tried to screw us over like Roland thought?"

Lasky said," Yes. Tell Apex to move. I want that Russian taken down and in our custody. Take all of the drones, too. Leave no witnesses."

" Got it, Captain. I'll tell them to get their asses moving."

Lasky hung up the phone, took out the SIM card, and crushed it to pieces while the ODST in the passenger seat threw the phone out of the window. Palmer was doing the same in the Artic, and somewhere in the world, two easily disposable phones were purchased.

Lieutenant Austin Hunt stood on the skids of the Hornet as it flew low over the countryside to a hidden Hammer, the weapon's company, facility where the Russian who attempted to kill the Iron Man in Monaco was currently making drones for Hammer in return for not being stuck in prison. The IV turned to his fellow Spartan, William Lennox, who was also known as "Four" to the team, and flashed three signals. Lennox nodded, before flashing the same signals to Two, Yvgenny Gorbachev, and Three, Carlos Garcia, through the open bay of the VTOL gunship. Green lights lit up on his HUD as they signaled that they understood. Hunt gripped his BR85HB tight as the Hornet went over a rise, and saw the Hammer facility. The other three Hornets fired their rockets and miniguns while Apex dismounted from their Hornet amid the death and destruction.

Hammer security was in disarray from the sudden and powerful assault, making easy pickings for the Hornets and Apex. Garcia picked off long distance targets while Gorbachev laid a steady stream of fire downrange. When the security on the tarmac was taken care of, the Hornets started to circle the facility, miniguns and rockets occasionally taking out guards who poked their heads out.

Hunt said," Okay, Apex. You know what we're here for. Yvgenny and Will, I want you to go to the hangar and secure the drones. Carlos, you're with me. We're going after Vanko."

Green lights flickered across his HUD again as they signaled that they understood, and they split up, with Gorbachev and Lennox going after the warehouse that held the drones, while Hunt and Garcia went to the dorms where Vanko was being held. When Hunt and Garcia arrived at one of the doors into the dorms, Carlos switched to his M6C/SOCOM since the sniper rifle wouldn't do much good in a close quarters situation. With a nod, Hunt kicked down the door, quickly putting a burst in the lone guard's head before he had a chance to react, only to duck down as bullets tore through the door and wall in front of him. The two Spartans activated their Promethean Visions, and returned accurate and deadly fire. When the guards were taken care of, Garcia kicked down the next door, and ran over to the next one, firing rounds through the wall again, taking down the two guards inside. The two Spartans easily made their way through the building, until they reached Vanko's room. They could hear sounds coming from within, and due to their Promethean Visions having run out of charge, they couldn't see what was inside. Hunt drew his plasma sword, while Garcia kept his pistol out. After swiping it a few times to make sure his sword was in working order, Hunt moved to the door, and lifted his foot up to kick down the door. But the door exploded outward before he could kick it down, and smacked into him, forcing him up against the wall. Garcia opened fire, putting rounds through the smoke and into the doorway. As he reloaded, he could see a glow emerging from the room, and when the smoke cleared, he could see exactly what it was.

Vanko was in his suit that he had used to try and take down the Iron Man in Monaco, his two whips made from the same technology that Iron Man's suit used. He ignored Hunt, who was still up against the wall, holding onto his plasma sword. When Garcia glanced at him, he saw that his team leader was fine, but waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Carlos raised his M6, and put a bullet through Vanko's right knee, causing him to scream in pain as he fell to the ground, and struggled to get up. He put a bullet through the left knee next, earning another scream, and this time Vanko didn't try to get up. Garcia walked over, and as Vanko looked up at him, pure hatred in his eyes, he punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious. The Spartan helped his team leader up, and made sure he was alright. They took the suit off of Vanko, and quickly put cuffs on him, throwing the key back into Vanko's room, to keep from Vanko somehow getting a hold of it, and in case they ever had to take the cuffs off of Vanko, there was another key on the _Infinity_.

As the two IVs left the building, they raided one of the store rooms where they knew gallons of gasoline were located, and poured them all over the building. When they left the building, with Vanko being pushed on a gurney, they could see Gorbachev and Lennox waiting for them outside of the warehouse, with the sixty drones that had been constructed by Vanko for Justin Hammer and his company.

Hunt said," Command, this is Apex One, over. We have the Russian and the drones. Awaiting extraction."

A couple of seconds later, Commander Palmer, back at the Infinity Operations complex in the Arctic, said," Roger, Apex One. Extract's inbound, ETA five mikes."

" Got it, Command. Apex One out."

As he closed the comm channel, Hunt pulled out an old lighter that had been passed down in his family for generations, and lit it, before walking over to the warehouse and setting the gasoline that had been poured all over it by Yvgenny and Will alight. He did the same with the housing area, and watched the flames for a moment before walking back towards his team. The four Spartans stood silent, watching the flames turn the two buildings to ash, before turning when they heard the sounds of dropships coming. They watched as two Albatross dropships and a Pelican landed, with one of the Albatrosses letting out two forklifts and a platoon of Marines, who immediately started to load the drones onto the other Albatross. As they approached the Pelican, they could see Crimson and Majestic Teams on the Pelican, and judging from the scratches on their armor, and in Crimson Two's case a couple of dents, they had obviously just got extracted from their respective operations.

When they sat down in the seats of the Pelican, Crimson One said," Opera 2-3, Apex is on. Get us out of here."

" Affirmative, Crimson One. Command, this is Opera 2-3. ETA to Alpha is four-zero mikes."

Palmer said," Roger, 2-3. Command out."

As the Pelican lifted off of the tarmac of the weapon company's facility, Crimson One said," Majestic already knows this, but there's a situation going on, Apex. A man known as Bruce Banner, who's a world renowned physicist, is being pursued by the military and SHIELD, all because of an accident in his lab involving gamma rays and a super soldier serum. Lasky thinks he could help in us getting back at home, and so we're going to approach him before the military and SHIELD gets a hold of him. If he agrees to help us get back to our own universe, we'll be taking him back to Alpha Base."

Madsen asked," And if he doesn't accept?"

" We'll have to take him out then. Despite him being the Hulk, he won't be able to live for long against the type of firepower we'll be able to bring to bear. If it gets out of control, Lasky's authorized Orion 3 to drop a MAC round."

Garcia whistled, and said," Could it really get that bad?"

Crimson Three said," You haven't seen this guy in action. We have. It could get that bad, but we don't think it would. Can't take any chances though. Two, you going to send them the files?"

Crimson Two nodded, tapped a few buttons on his datapad, and said," Alright. Apex, you should be getting the files now."

Apex looked down at their own datapads, and saw that the files were downloading. A couple of seconds later, they finished downloading, and started to read them. When the four Spartans finished reading them, they looked up to see Crimson and Majestic Teams looking at them.

Hunt said," That's some heavy shit. And that serum, sounds like the formulas that made us into Spartans, except combined into one."

Crimson One nodded, and said," That's exactly what the scientists think it is. But the guy who came up with the serum's dead, and he was the only one who knew what made up the serum. Even Dr. Glassman won't be able to recreate it. Dr. Halsey might be able to, but there's no way in hell anyone's going to give her the chance. Not after what she did on Requiem."

DeMarco said," C'mon, what she did on Requiem turned out to be a good thing."

Madsen muttered," To you maybe. I'm still sore from that pounding I took to keep her out of danger."

" Well maybe you shouldn't have charged a Promethean Knight, dumbass."

The last comment was said by Tedra Grant, and before Madsen and Grant could break out bickering, Crimson Four said," Anyway, back on topic. So Lasky wants us to approach Banner, and if he doesn't agree, to kill him. We're also to protect him from the military and SHIELD if they attack before we have a chance to approach him."

DeMarco said," So, when do we head out?"

Petty Officer Third Class Michael Williams sat in his chair, watching as the video played on the monitor, trying to figure out how the slipspace anomaly had occurred. They had narrowed it down to a compartment of Forerunner artifacts, and that it had been a chain reaction that caused the anomaly, but they couldn't find the artifact that had started the chain reaction. When the video finished, he replayed it, to make sure that he didn't miss anything. He suddenly sat up straight about a quarter of the way through the video, and rewound it and watched the segment that caught his attention a couple of times before he determined that this was the artifact that caused the problem.

The engineer yelled," Doctor Reynolds, you might want to see this!"

Doctor Patricia Reynolds, Dr. Glassman's second-in-command, walked over to Williams, and asked," What is it, Petty Officer?"

Williams said," Just watch, Doctor."

He replayed the video, and after it was done, Reynolds said," What artifact was it?"

" Uhh, Artifact Alpha Beta Delta Two-Three."

" Good job, Williams. We're one step closer to getting back home."

A.N.: Okay, thanks for all of the reviews, likes, and follows. And to those who pointed out that it seemed like Infinity and crew were just hanging out in the Avengers universe, hopefully that last part was enough to make it seem like they were trying to get back. Sorry that the part was so short, as I added it on towards the end of the chapter. And to those who will complain about the business meeting for no other reason than to complain about something, I'm not a business man, I don't want to be a businessman, and I have no clue how business meetings go about.


	5. Chapter 5

What Just Happened?

Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Wish I did, where's a shooting star?

(Two Months Later)

General Thaddeus Ross stood on the hill overlooking the Shenandoah Valley, where Bruce Banner, now known as "The Hulk" to the world, had ran to after the battle at Culver University. He lifted his binoculars up to his eyes, where he could see Banner standing in front of a house, knocking on the door. Ross frowned when he saw the person who opened it look around to make sure Banner hadn't been followed, before letting the man in and closing the door. Ross turned to Blonsky, who was watching the scene as well.

Ross said, "I want that house surrounded. Try to avoid harming the civilians, if possible. We'll place them under arrest for harboring a fugitive. Tell me when everything's ready."

Blonsky nodded, saluted, and walked away to start the operation. Ross watched as a platoon of soldiers crept silently on the house, with snipers and machine gunners watching from the hills, with tanks and other vehicles waiting for the order to move up. He looked up in the sky, where he could see the AC130 Spectre gunship that he had managed to get in order to support Blonsky and his men.

Blonsky, down with the platoon surrounding the house, said, "General, we're in position. Awaiting go order."

Ross looked over everything one last time, and said, "Go."

Crimson Three stood at the window of the house where they were meeting Bruce Banner, watching the U.S. Army platoon surround the house, unaware that they were being watched. He checked his M395 DMR, pulling back the charging handle and waiting for the platoon outside to attack, in order to try and capture Banner. Unknown to them, Banner had already left the house. The house, which had once been part of the famous Underground Railroad, had a tunnel that led from it to the next stop of the Railroad. Fireteam Majestic had already led Banner down to the tunnel, and were leading them to the other house, where Fireteam Apex was waiting. He smirked, and watched as the CO of the platoon talked to the overall commander, who he could see standing up on the hilltop.

Three ducked down as gunfire suddenly smashed through the windows, and through the walls. When the initial fire stopped, he leaned out of the window, and returned fire, taking down three of the soldiers before they had a chance to react. He could hear the rest of his team firing as well, and when the return fire from the platoon outside started back up, the fire ceased, and he could hear the door to the tunnel being opened. Following the plan, he ran over to the tunnel, and waited for Two, their CQC specialist, to lead the way into the tunnel, before following her down. Four was right behind him, while One covered their asses. Once the team was down in the tunnel, One took the detonator that was connected to the C4 plastic explosive rigged in the house. With a press of a button, the house exploded, taking down two more of the soldiers with it. The Spartans were protected by the tunnel, which had been made to withstand anything short of an earthquake.

They made their way down the tunnel to the next house, where they gave the code to Carlos Garcia, who opened the door for them. Garcia and the rest of Apex Team were in civvies, while Majestic was still in their armor, watching Banner.

Hunt, the CO of Apex Team, said, "It's all good here. The army's trying to figure out where the hell you guys went to. Luckily, they haven't decided to check this house yet."

Crimson One said, "Good. How's the good Doctor doing?"

DeMarco said, "All things considered, he's doing good. The 'chill pill' we gave him seems to be working well. When do you want to talk to him?"

"Let's do it now."

DeMarco nodded, and led Crimson One into the room where Banner was waiting. Banner was surprisingly calm, thanks to the drug that Thorne had given him to keep him from transforming into the Hulk.

Crimson One took off his helmet, and said, "Dr. Banner, my name is Derrick Morgan, also known as Crimson One. You can call me Derrick if you wish."

"Bruce. My name is Bruce."

"Very well. So I'm assuming you have questions of why we got you away from the army?"

"Of course."

Derrick rubbed his hand through his hair, and said, "Well, we need your help. And you can't help us if the army knows where you are."

Banner nodded, and said, "Of course. People only help others when it benefits them."

Derrick said, "I never said that we wouldn't have helped you if it had no benefits for us. It's just that you're uniquely suited for our problem. You are an expert in gamma rays, yes? And you know a bit about astrophysics?"

Banner nodded, and said, "Why would you need those specialties? Unless...no. You're aliens?"

Derrick chuckled, and said, "In a way. If you agree to help us, I'll be able to explain it better. We'll also be able to help you with your...other side. But once you agree to work with us, you won't be able to back out, and you have to keep everything secret."

Banner looked at him suspiciously, and said, "How exactly are you going to help my problem?"

"We have advanced technology from where we're from, if you couldn't tell already by our armor. Our scientists believe we may be able to help, maybe make it so you can have control over it, even when you get angry."

Bruce took a couple of minutes to think about it, before saying, "Okay. So what is it you need help with? I'm not saying I'm agreeing yet, but your terms sound pretty good to me."

Crimson One smirked, before saying, "Well..."

Thomas Lasky stood in the command center of the Arctic base created for Infinity Operations, reading the reports that were being sent from all around the world. He smirked when he read that Dr. Bruce Banner, an expert in gamma rays, also known as the Hulk when his anger got the better of him, had agreed to help them try and get back to their own universe in exchange for the ability to be able to control the Hulk even when he was angry. Doctor Glassman had a theory that a strong enough 'chill pill' would be able to keep him calm, and even control the Hulk, indefinitely. He thought that a 'chill pill' on the dosage given to the Spartan-IVs who suffered from **The Rage** would work. Lasky sighed, as he thought of the issue with the IVs.

While they were not as elite as the IIs, they had better technology and the mistakes that were involved with the IIs to work with, fixing many of the past mistakes. However, there was something in the chemicals and process used that altered some of their brain chemistry, changing how they would react to situations and pain tolerance. This was known as **The Rage**, as it often changed their anger control. Fireteams Apex and Crimson were the only two teams on the _Infinity_ who didn't take medicine to keep it under control, instead going through simulations with it, and managing to figure out how to control it without the use of medicine. It was why they were so effective in high-stress situations.

He turned his thoughts away from the Spartans to a proposal from Dr. Glassman to recruit a trio of scientists to help them get back to their own universe. Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, and Erik Selvig were the top scientists in the field of astrophysics, and they had been involved in the whole debacle involving Thor, which had opened up a whole other list of ways to get back to their universe. After reading the files on them, he turned to the holotable where Roland was showing his form while running a search program on something called the Tesseract. SHIELD had it so closely guarded, that Roland wasn't able to hack into the files on it without raising alarm bells and putting the intelligence organization on alert.

"Roland?"

The AI turned to the Captain, and said, "Yes, Captain?"

"Tell Lieutenant Colby that she can go ahead with recruiting the three astrophysicists. I want a guard detail with her since SHIELD will most likely be watching."

"Yes, Captain. Fireteam Shadow is currently open for a mission. Would they be acceptable?"

Lasky nodded, and turned away from Roland to continue looking at the reports. He smirked when he saw that the aircraft carrier that was being built in Somalia was almost completed. The aircraft carrier, which was a monstrous 500 meter long ship with the ability to hover, was being built in a secret dry-dock on the Somali coast that was surrounded by trees, and the closest shipping lane was over a hundred kilometers away. It was no secret that the Somali government was corrupt, and was often used by intelligence organizations to funnel money, people, and weapons to more dangerous areas in Africa.

He focused back on the carrier, which had just been loaded with F-99 Osprey Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), F-41 Exoatmospheric Multirole Strike Fighters (Broadswords), and B-65 Suborbital Long Range Bombers (Shortswords) for operations near the coast. It would be another two weeks before the carrier, known as the _Majestic_, would be able to get out on the seas and support operations. Lasky wasn't worried about any intelligence organizations finding out about the carrier, as Roland had covered all financial trails and kept satellite surveillance from seeing it, while the Marines from Gypsy Company were guarding the dry-dock that the carrier was being constructed out.

He turned his attention away from the carrier to the situation currently going on in Libya, where the revolution was quickly going out of control. With Gaddafi having been hidden by those loyal to him, and his military clashing with the rebels, the CIA and SHIELD were quickly overwhelmed with the situation, and unable to insert teams from the coast due to the Libyan fleet keeping guard over the coast. Fury had made contact with him through the CIA and MI6, offering a sizable amount of funds to insert several groups of agents into Libya. Fireteam Talon had been selected to insert the teams covertly by sea, while Fireteam Tower were inserting them from Tunisia, which had been bribed to keep quiet. As he read through the situation, Lasky smirked, thinking of an opportunity to show the world what the _Majestic_ was made of.

Special Agent of SHIELD Phil Coulson laid down in the RHIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat), watching as the mercenaries who had been hired by Fury and several other intelligence agencies guided them towards the shore, bypassing several Libyan defensive positions without being seen. He idly wondered if the U.S. Navy SEALs (SEa, Air, Land) or the British SBS (Special Boat Squadron) could do any better. His current thoughts went away as gunfire lit up the night, and he could hear shouting from the other boats. It wasn't until the first few moments when he realized that none of the bullets were heading towards them, and the mercenaries didn't appear to be worried. He continued to lay down, wondering what was going on until the RHIB touched land.

Almost immediately he jumped out of the RHIB, followed by Parkinson and Lewis, his pistol out and scanning. It was when he saw the technicals on the beach with guns pointing away from the beach that he realized the locals must be rebels, or it was an elaborate trap set up by the Libyan intelligence agency. He watched as the CIA SAD/SOG team stepped out of their own RHIB, with the British MI6 team following them, and noted how they quickly formed a perimeter around the American Ambassador to the rebels.

Coulson turned to the mercenary who had been piloting his RHIB, and said," Great job getting us here. You'll receive your payment shortly."

The merc nodded his head, before pulling hopping out of the RHIB and pushing it back into the water, before leaving, his fellow mercenaries behind him. As the proper code words were said to the rebels and back, Coulson idly wondered if the mercenaries would eventually play a large part in other operations.

A.N.: So that's it, a short chapter as I'm using this as a filler since I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks and may not be able to finish a chapter for a while. The part with Coulson was just something to add as I want to stick to events that happen in the real world, which I'm assuming would happen in the Marvel universe as well even though it's not mentioned. Thanks to Amir-015 for the aircraft carrier idea. Please favorite, follow, and review. Hippopotom onstrosesq uippedalio phobia


	6. Chapter 6

What Just Happened

Chapter Six

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything. *Sigh*. Does that mean I'm homeless if I don't own anything?

(Two weeks later)

Nick Fury stood in the command center of the Helicarrier, staring at the resignation in front of him. A week ago, he had been informed that Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, and Erik Selvig had resigned from SHIELD and then promptly disappeared from SHIELD's radar. The last place they had been seen was in Dulles International Airport boarding a private Gulfstream-III which had then gone to Argentina, before heading back to Dulles two days later with nobody but the pilots on board. After some checking, they had discovered that the Gulfstream was owned by Infinity Research, and that the plane had made a flight from Dulles to Argentina about a week before, oddly conspiring with the sighting of Bruce Banner, more commonly known as the Hulk, in Argentina guarded by three men wielding highly modified AK74 assault rifles. The search afterwards revealed no information, except that Banner had stayed in a motel in Buenos Aires for two days before signing out when two men came and picked him and the guard detail up.

He rubbed his forehead, before saying, "Hill, what's the situation in Libya?"

Maria Hill, who had been reading the latest reports from Coulson in Libya, said, "The rebels and Gaddafi are both buying mercenaries to help them fight. I think the only mercenary companies that aren't involved in the fighting are Blackwater Worldwide, Infinity Operations, and Horizon. Blackwater isn't in it only because they don't' want any more chances of bad PR on the scale of the shootings. Infinity is inserting NATO intelligence teams, along with our own units. And Horizon's ferrying in supplies to the rebels, and the only fighting they do is when Gaddafi tries to stop them. So Libya's become a stomping ground for intelligence agencies and mercenaries, with the intelligence agencies supporting whichever side is best for their goals and the mercenaries fighting for the highest bidder. Gaddafi's currently employing his own Special Forces against the rebels, although not to great effect as NATO air strikes are keeping them at bay."

Fury nodded, and said, "What does Coulson think?"

"Coulson's currently with the rebel leadership in Benghazi, although he's snuck out a couple of times to go where the fighting's heaviest. He says that the rebels are better than Gaddafi, although there will be an unstable situation in North Africa due to the revolution."

"So throw our support behind the rebels, and have friendly relations with Libya, or throw our support behind Gaddafi, and have as much stability as possible."

Hill nodded, and stayed silent as Fury thought through the situation. If the rebels won, relations with Libya would be friendly, although the revolution could cause other countries to fall into turmoil in North Africa, leading to a loss of stability, and if Gaddafi won, then relations with Libya would be even worse and the dictator would be even more ruthless, but North Africa would have some semblance of stability.

Finally reaching his decision, Fury said, "Okay, I'll have to run this by the World Security Council. But what I want done for right now is gather intelligence on Gaddafi and his forces, then give the minor intelligence to the rebels. If you find his location, hand it over to the CIA and the SVR (Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, or Foreign Intelligence Service) and let them do what they want with it. And if the SVR alerts Gaddafi to it, we'll bring them up in the UN."

Hill nodded, and said, "Yes, sir."

She walked out of the room, followed by Fury who was going to the conference room to talk to the World Security Council. He really hated being the Director of SHIELD sometimes.

Erik Selvig looked out of the window and into the blackness of space as the plane, called a "dropship" by their guards, headed towards the monstrous ship that looked rather ugly. Darcy and Jane were practically bouncing in their seats at the thought of being on an advanced space ship, which they had heard Thor mention, although he didn't know much, only what Heimdall had told him. Erik could see the guards holding their rifles, which he recognized as being more advanced models of the newly released MA1 series.

He thought back on how Infinity Research had contacted him, Jane, and Darcy, by mentioning how they knew he was involved with dimension travelers, making him wonder how they knew about the encounter with Thor, and that he most likely wouldn't mind working with more. Intrigued, they had responded back to the, at the time, unknown person, and made plans for a meeting with him. What happened was completely astounding.

-(Flashback)-

Erik walked into the coffee shop, and scanning it for the person who was wearing the clothes described in the last email that had been sent from the unknown messenger. Jane and Darcy were behind him, and when he saw the man with the Redskins cap on, he gesture for them to follow him and walked over to the man. The man didn't look up as they sat down, continuing to read his paper.

Erik cleared his throat, and asked, "Are you Mister Fitzpatrick?"

The man nodded, but didn't look up. Erik was about to say something, when he felt something touch his knee. The astrophysicist looked down, and saw that it was a file folder with papers inside. As he read began to read it, with Jane and Darcy looking at it over his shoulder, he wondered what it was about as there was no title. What was in the text shocked him and his companions to the core. When he was finished reading, he looked up at the man who was almost finished with his paper.

Selvig asked, "Is this true?"

The man nodded, and said, "Yes. Everything in there has been scientifically proven."

"But how is this possible?"

The man finished his paper, folded up, and laid it down on the table, before looking up at Selvig and said, "Your friend Thor did the same thing, except he used the Bifrost to get here. We had a malfunction with our means of travelling long distances. And unlike Thor, we're not known as gods."

Jane asked, "But this? I mean we knew there were other aliens out there, some undoubtedly hostile. But a Holy War undertaken by this…Covenant to wipe out humanity seems a little far-fetched. And travelling in a fifth dimension? How does that work?"

"I don't fully understand it myself, despite the many attempts to learn it. But that is one of the things you will be able to look at if you agree to our offer."

Darcy and Jane seemed convinced, but Selvig asked, "How do we know you're not going to bring an invasion force with the findings we make?"

The man chuckled, and said, "I doubt the rest of our Humanity will be able to replicate what happened. Don't get me wrong, it may happen, especially with Dr. Halsey, but I doubt it will happen."

Selvig nodded, and asked, "But why do you think you will be able to?"

The man sighed, and said, "Humans do amazing things when pressured."

Selvig nodded, and found himself convinced. And that was how Lasky got some of the smartest scientists in the world working to get him and his command back to their own universe.

- (Flashback End) -

As they got closer to the ship, he could see its huge weapons, some of which looked like they served the same purpose as the CAWS on aircraft carrier and other ships. He could see that Jane and Darcy were dying to get on the ship, and sighed when he heard one of the guards chuckling at their enthusiasm. The scientist continued looking through the window, and gasped when he saw base on Pluto, positioned in such a way so that the Hubble telescope wouldn't be able to see it. Selvig looked away from the base to look at the monstrous ship, which he'd been told was five kilometers long, and saw another ship exit it, this one maybe 500 meters.

When the bay opened up for the dropship, he could see over another one inside, with people milling around it, obviously preparing it for something. He watched the dropship land, and found himself awed by the VTOL capabilities this dropship had, which made the MV-22 Osprey look ancient in comparison. When the ramp opened up, Selvig walked out with Jane and Darcy to the greeting party that was waiting for them. Among the greeting party were two military officers, one a female the size of Captain America making him wonder if they had a supersoldier serum, a scientist, and an AI projecting itself from a pedestal.

The one who was obviously in charged, stepped forward, and said, "Doctors, my name is Captain Thomas Lasky, the CO of this ship, and may I be the first one to say welcome to the UNSC Infinity. The woman next to me is Commander Sarah Palmer, the CO of all Spartan Fireteams on the Infinity, and scientist is Dr. Henry Glassman, the man in charge of Infinity Science. Roland is the ship's AI. Do you wish to go to your quarters, or have a tour of the ship?"

Erik looked at Jane and Darcy, and after seeing their faces, said, "We would like to do the tour, please."

Lasky smiled, and said, "Very well. Follow me. I hope you don't mind the security, it's their jobs."

And so began Erik, Jane, and Darcy's introduction to Humans from a different universe.

While all of this was going on in the universe that would eventually become the home of a group of people known as the Avengers, there was something brewing in the universe from which Infinity and its crew hailed. In the ONI CASTLE Base on Reach, scientists under the leadership of Dr. Catherine Halsey, no longer a war criminal and even a war hero thanks to the efforts of Lord Admiral Terrence Hood and Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. They were currently working on the finishing touches of a form of slipspace drive that would hopefully allow them to find out where the UNSC Infinity and its crew had gone to, and bring them back home alive. A marvel of Forerunner technology reverse-engineered by Humanity, this drive would allow a ship to go to an alternate universe, which was the theory of where the Infinity had gone to.

A sudden shout echoed around the labs where they were working, as a scientist exclaimed, "Doctor Halsey, it's finished!

Catherine Halsey, who was having a conversation with a seventh-generation AI named Sigma, walked out of her office to see the scientists, some of whom had known people on the Infinity, cheering at the thought of rescuing the Infinity and crew.

She asked, "We already tested its abilities, but that was a Frigate. Are we positive that it will work with the Washington?"

One of the scientists, a Dr. Madison Lowell, replied, "Yes, Doctor Halsey. The Washington is a Frigate as well, and we have determined that the stealth components will not interfere with the drive."

"Good. Sigma?"

The AI's voice came out on the speakers, asking, "Yes, Doctor Halsey?"

"Contact Lord Hood, and tell him it's ready."

"Yes, Doctor Halsey."

* * *

A.N.: So just a filler chapter, as I had some free time and I didn't feel like writing a longer chapter. As you can see, Selvig, Foster, and Darcy are now with the Infinity and co., and the UNSC is planning to get their ship and people back. Reviews, favorites, and follows are welcome, along with ideas.


	7. Chapter 7

What Just Happened

Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo, nor the Avengers.

Heimdall, the "All-Seer", sat cross-legged on the ground inside his building, thinking on what he had seen going on at Midgard. The Midgardians from elsewhere had thrown a wrench in the future of Midgard, although not necessarily a bad one until later. He had seen the havoc that would plague the large human city when Loki joined up with the Other to conquer Midgard, and he saw all the outcomes, which would lead Thor down to Midgard in order to save it from Loki and the Chitauri. But now, with the other Midgardians there, the outcome was always the same.

The massive ship would destroy the Chitauri's ship, leading to peace on Earth for a while with its protector in space. But the destruction of the Chitauri ship would announce to the galaxy at large that Midgard was ready for a higher form of warfare, and soon after Midgard would be attacked, leading the massive ship to be forced into defending Midgard, along with the smaller ships that had accompanied it from those who would try to conquer the world. Eventually there would be casualties, a massive amount too, when the Midgardians would be outnumbered.

Heimdall sighed at the depressing future, and stood, deciding to inform Odin of what he saw, so he could prepare the defenses of Asgard accordingly. As he stood, the All-Seer really hoped that the future would change.

Sarah Palmer stood at the summit of Mount Everest, looking down into the range below her in the night. She ignored the fires that showed the spots of people climbing the mountain, which six fireteams of Marines were doing as civilians, although their weapons were never far away. The IV was searching for the sign of a trail or path where the LeT, al-Qaeda, Taliban, or another extremist group moved guns, money, drugs, and people into the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Sarah saw a small light in the distance, and zooming in with her HUD, saw that it was a fire with people armed with AKs sitting around it, and said to her companion, "Over there."

She pointed to the spot, until her companion said into his radio, "Eclipse-Nine, this is Apex-One. Target marked at Beta-Nine-Gamma-Two. One fire, watch for signal attempt. You're cleared hot, Eclipse Nine."

Sarah looked at Austin as he lowered the radio from his mouth, and she said, "Two more until we're done for the night. We're going to have to move tonight. Team One said they'll be at the summit tomorrow."

Austin nodded, then pointed towards a small fleck of light in the distance, and said, "There's one."

Sarah zoomed her HUD in all the way, which was enough to where she could see the AK47s lying among the campsite. She could even see the LeT symbol spray painted on one of the tents, confirming they were insurgents.

Palmer said, "Confirmed. Standard LeT protocol, and tent markings agree with it. Call it in."

"Eclipse-Three, Apex-One. Target marked, cleared hot. Two fires, LeT. Hit it."

Sarah watched as the two Special Operations Hornet VTOL gunships landed silently near the group of twelve LeT insurgents, dropping off Eclipse Three, a squad from Eclipse Company, the light-infantry company that was often partnered up alongside Gypsy for operations. She could see their suppressed rifles in their grips as they moved towards the two fires. Palmer only looked away from the quick and furious assault when the last insurgent was killed, looking for another campsite.

A minute into her search, she heard Apex Three say, "One, this is Three. You may want to check my feed. There's at least two dozen insurgents moving towards Everest. A lot of chatter, it's making me antsy."

Austin looked at Palmer, then said, "Can you hack into their COMs if possible?"

"Uh, yeah. Here, patching it through. Translator's up."

A second later, she heard a voice with a heavy Russian accent speaking, "Remember the plan. Rasputin wants to make a message to Nepal, courtesy of Gandhi and Mao. Leave some survivors so the world will think we're insurgents. If the world finds out who we truly are, the Rodina will be in deep shit. Hurry, there's only ten hours before we have to get to the border."

Another voice said, "Major, this is Zupesky. I don't feel comfortable about this. There's something out here, and it's on the hunt."  
"Ah, don't be a coward Sergeant."  
The conversation continued, and Palmer smiled knowing that at least one of these people was scared of the UNSC Marine Corps. It didn't take long for them to realize what was about to go down, thanks to help from Roland. Rasputin was the code-name used by Cuban DI (Direccion de Intelligencia), Venezuelan GCI (General Counterintelligence Office), Russian FSB (Federal'naya Sluzbha Bezopasnosti, or Federal Security Service), and Russian SVR (Sluzbha Vneshney Razvedki, or the Foreign Intelligence Service) for the Russian President, while Gandhi was India's Prime Minister, and Mao was China's leader. Using this, and Roland checking the voices against audio files that the Russians had of their SOF teams, they found out that it was a FSB Alfa Team that was moving towards Everest, unwary of the trap set for them.

Palmer had alerted the Marines, and they were already screwing suppressors on their rifles while moving to pieces of good cover, ready to ambush the FSB team. She had Apex-Three prepared to take down any runners, and Eclipse was on standby in case things got heavy. Austin and herself were watching the FSB team through binoculars, wanting to know how they would react to an ambush for future occasions. When the FSB team finally reached the beginning of the massive mountain, where a group of six LeT agents were waiting for them to guide them up the mountain, Palmer gave the order.

As the FSB team and their guides made their way up Everest towards the closest camp, they didn't realize they were walking into a trap until a sharp crack echoed throughout the mountain range, and Sergeant Zupesky didn't reply to their attempts to contact him. They tried to hunker down in case of an ambush, but as suppressed gunfire came from the sky, courtesy of Eclipse in their Hornet VTOLs, they realized they were screwed with next to no visibility, and decided to attempt to complete their mission.

However, the LeT guides were dead, and with no way to know where the camps were, they wandered, taking casualties from long-range gunfights, which they lost horrendously, allowing the two Marine fireteams that were pursuing them to easily pick them off. As the Alfa team leader was shot in the throat, the two remaining members, cold and scared of this unknown threat, laid down their rifles, but kept them within reach, and surrendered.

The two Hornet VTOLs with Eclipse-Nine landed, letting their cargos off, before lifting back up to train their miniguns on the two Alfa members. Once the two AK-47s were kicked away from the special operators and they were searched, thoroughly, they were taken to where the Hornets were waiting. Squeezed on board, the group of four Hornets left with their packages, crossing into Bangladesh, with a call being made to the French DGSE's station chief.

With the Hornets away, and the contract that Infinity Operations had taken from a private businessman who's daughter had been kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered by LeT terrorists in Jakarta fulfilled, Palmer and Austin began the walk to the LZ where a Pelican and Apex Two and Three were waiting.

An hour later, with Apex-Three onboard, the Pelican lifted off, and Palmer said, "Lasky, this is Palmer. We're done here in Nepal."

"Good. The client got the pictures and videos, so he's sending the money when his own men confirm. Now, get to Somalia. There's been an incident, and things are getting hairy."

"What happened?"

Standing in the command center of the Arctic base, Lasky said, "A warlord managed to get a team in the _Majestic_, and they're not your average pirates. Fighters from Aidid's days, even participating in the Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down), they're playing it smart. They're fanatical, thinking the money they get will help Somalia. Gypsy killed twelve in the attempt, but they locked down a room where the security measures of gas hasn't been implemented yet, and their AKs can rip holes through Gypsy's armor. Majestic's in Russia with Crimson, and you're the closest team. Get it done, Commander."  
"Got it, Captain."

"Good, Lasky out."

As the connection was cut, Palmer stood up and walked to the cockpit, saying, "Did you get that?"

The pilot of Pelican Lima-Five, Lieutenant Mark Durango, nodded, and said, "Yes, I did Commander. Setting course change to Somalia now. ETA two hours."

Nodding, Palmer walked back to the blood bay, and addressed Apex Team, "There's a situation in Somalia."

Kenyatta Wattanabe stood near the door of the very high-tech room that he and his fellow pirates had taken refuge in with their hostage, pointing his old AK47 towards it in case the guards tried to get into the room to free the hostage. The Somali allowed his gaze to wonder as he looked around the room, wondering who had the money and technology to build an aircraft carrier like this. Uneducated about some things he may be, if there was one thing the pirate knew it was ships, from simple canoes to aircraft carriers. Sighing at the slight boredom, caused by being in the room for three hours, he turned his attention back to the door and tucking the modified rifle's stock into his shoulder.

It was two hours later, and five hours into the operation, when one of his fellow pirates, Muammar Waaraabe, yelled out, "Federico, come! You need to see this!"

As Federico Alvarez, a Spanish Communist that had grown to love Somalia in the two years he had spent in the country, hiding from his government, walked over to the security monitors where Waaraabe was posted, Kenyatta took a peak at the monitors. What he saw scared him. One of the oddly shaped helicopters that the people who were paying for the ship to be built used, had landed and let out five large armored figures, each of them armed with a machine pistol and a shotgun, both of which Wattanabe had seen the guards using. Knowing that they would try attack the room, and thinking that it would be easier to engage them with his stock folded, Wattanabe did so, and flicked the safety off.

Under Federico's direction, him and his fellow pirates took positions around the room, although they wouldn't be able to do much with only the six of them. Federico positioned himself towards the middle of the room, holding a Makarov pistol to the hostage's head, waiting for the armored figures to attack. When the armored figures got near, Waaraabe warned them before he got into his position as well.

A minute later, a voice came across the intercom, saying, "Federico Alvarez and others, this is your last chance to surrender. If you do not do so now, lethal action will be taken. You have a minute to decide."

Within a second, Federico yelled, "Fuck you, capitalist pigs! We will never surrender!"

"Suit yourself."

That was the only warning they got before the door was smashed in, and the five armored beings made their entrance, guns blazing. Wattanabe managed to get a burst off from his AK, which harmlessly bounced off of the shields of the Spartan, before his exploded from a burst of fire from Palmer's M8S SMG. Waaraabe took a shotgun to the face courtesy of Lennox, while Hunt took down two pirates himself, and Palmer took down the last one. Within seconds of the room being breached, the only pirate left was Alvarez holding his Makarov to the hostage's head, backing away from the three Spartans that had breached the room, unknowingly heading towards a window.

He stuttered, "Back away, or...or I'll shoot!"

As he neared the window, he didn't notice the light coming in until it was directly on his face, when he noticed the heat along with the light. By then it was too late for him to do anything, and knowing his fate, he screamed until the bullet went through the window and silenced him. The hostage dropped to the floor, sobbing, while the sniper looked away from his scope.

Apex-Three said, "Tango down."

Palmer checked the hostage, and then contacted Lasky, "Lasky, Palmer. Hostage is secured, pirates are neutralized."

"Good. Now come back to Alpha Base, there's something you have to see."

Palmer said, "Roger that. Palmer out," cutting the connection, she turned to the Marine Corporal that had followed them in with her Fireteam, and said, "Clean this mess up, and I'll trust that the Lieutenant will tighten security?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. I'll be paying a visit."

She motioned for Apex to follow her out, and as they got in the Pelican, she smiled at another successful mission.

Back in UNSC controlled space, there was a meeting taking place in Facility Bravo-6, HIGHCOM HQ in Sydney, Australia. The UNSC Security Committee, consisting of Lord Admiral Terrence Hood, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) of the UNSC Navy, Major General Adam Wainwright, the Marine Corp's representative, Brigadier General Mark Smythe, the Air Force's rep, Brigadier General Black Noud, from the Army, and Nathaniel Hale, ONI's rep and a descendent on the famous spy Nathan Hale, was currently deciding on who to have as the Commanders on the ship that would rescue the _Infinity_, or find out where it had gone.

Hood said, "So it's decided that the 25th Marines will be part of the operation. That's the last Marine unit, and all that's left before the CO and ONI liason are what Spartan Fireteams should be on board. There's Fireteams Snow, Gold, Juno, Utah, and Omaha from the IVs, the new Noble Team from the IIIs, and then Blue and Grey Teams from the IIs. We have three slots to fill. I personally think that Blue, Noble, and Juno are the best choice, since Grey and the other IVs are scheduled to hunt down the new URF leadership."

Wainwright, who had the most experience with the Spartans except for Hood in the room, said, "I concur. Each team's been around the block with each other a few times."

There were nods all around the table, and Hood said, "So we're in agreement? Good. Now, we need to choose the ONI liason. Hale, do you have the list?"

Hale nodded, and pulled a sheaf of papers from his chained briefcase, and said, "Yes. We have three personnel chosen, and for security operations, their name, personal info, and some of their operations are blacked out. The first operative is a long-term agent from Section Three and Section Zero, and led quite a few operations during the war. He's trustworthy, not a big fan of either Osman or Parangosky when she was Director, but he believes they're the necessary evil to help preserve Humanity. Recommended by Sections Three and Zero, along with a signature of approval, but not recommendation, from Osman and Sections One and Two. The second operative is recommended by Osman, and a member of Kilo-Five's predecessor during the war. A fanatically loyal to Humanity operative, he won't hesitate to do anything if he sees it as being helpful in the preservation of Humanity. I personally dislike him, but he's a fine agent. The third operative is my personal favorite. A Section Three operative, she's been in ONI since the Insurrection, and has my personal voucher that she hasn't been turned. Experienced, responsible, and calm in exciting situations, she won't let personal matters get in the way. Recommended by Sections One and Two, and with a signature of approval from Osman and the other Sections, she will be able to integrate in the crew and personnel involved as she's been with the crew of this ship before, and her being a Marine before joining ONI."

The other Security Committee members read the profiles, and when they were finished, Smythe said, "I vote for Operative C."

Hood said, "I concur. Any against?"

There were none, and Hood said, "C is the winner. I trust that she'll be there, Hale?"

Hale nodded as he collected the papers before walking to the Marine Intelligence officer who took the papers and threw them in the burner. The Security Committee ran a tight ship when it came to intelligence and highly sensitive matters, which was pretty much everything they did. Everything was on paper within the Faraday Cage, as an extra security measure.

Hood then said, "With the ONI Liason chosen, the next item on our agenda is to choose the Captain of the ship, and leader of the mission. Any suggestions?"

Wainwright said, "I'm not a Navy man, so I don't know the officers well, but what about Vickers? He's been a Lieutenant Commander on a Prowler since 2549, and it's about time he gets the rank he deserves."

Hood looked at Hale, who shrugged and said, "I don't see why not. Osman won't want to attract any attention by denying Vickers, since he's not all that important right now."

Hood nodded, and said, "Here's his profile for those of you who don't know it. A Commander with the _In Amber Clad_ and _Forward Unto Dawn_ under his command in 2549, he helps Whitcomb emerge victorious during the Siege of the Atlas Moons, providing the backbone that kept his ships from retreating. His career's looking good, Whitcomb's recommending him to Captain and taking command of a Halcyon-class Light Cruiser under his command. Suddenly, he's demoted and loses his command. After some confusion, the truth comes out with what happened. Vickers was on loan to ONI, given to them by Cole back in '40, and had disobeyed direct orders from Parangosky. He was to hold station in an unknown system, and ambush a Corvette that one of the Prowler Corps was following. But when Whitcomb's call came in, he abandoned his post, leaving behind a group of mines with Shivas mixed in to take out the Corvette when it came out of slipspace and hit them. Although he got the job done, Parangosky's pissed that someone has the balls to disobey her order. But she can't kill him, because in our eye's he's a hero. So she demotes him, saying that he was caught drinking on duty, but everyone knows it's bullshit since Vickers would never do that. He's not afraid to get dirty, but he knows what's good and what's bad. I would say he's our man."

The others nodded, and Hood said, "Well, that's it. We inform Victors and have him choose his bridge crew. Anyway, so tell me about OPERATION: HAYMAKER, Adam."

(One Day Later)

Master Chief John-117 sighed as he laid back in the specially made beach chair, relaxing as the sun hit him full on and the sound of the waves in his ears. After the events on Requiem and another year against the Insurrection, Hood had granted him and Blue Team an extended leave for three months after no leave for over fifty years, using his own funds to pay for the hotel as well as the beach that the hotel led to, along with donations given by the public to get the famed Spartans some leave. Although they didn't need the leave, Blue Team couldn't deny that it was nice, and with a hotel all for themselves, the Spartans had taken up playing airsoft with inside with the permission of the hotel owners.

A splash caught his attention as Mark ducked Ash, causing Fred to join in. Tom was watching them with a smile on his face, Lucy doing the same next to him. Olivia, Kelly, and Linda were throwing a football, showing that Linda wasn't accurate with only a sniper rifle. He smiled again, happily watching his team have fun, and as he took a swig from the Budweiser next to him, he saw a shadow next to him.

John said, "Hello, Admiral."

Hood smiled at his friend's greeting, before crouching down next to the cooler to steal a Budweiser, and said, "Hey Chief. I hope you don't mind me taking a beer do you? Haven't had a cold one in a while."

"Not at all, Admiral. If you don't mind me being abrupt, what's up?"

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Terry?"

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me John?"

Hood chuckled, then turned serious, "I have a job for you guys, John. It regards the _Infinity_."

That caught the Chief's attention, as well as the other Spartans. The _Infinity_'s disappearance had been a major blow to the Spartan community, with all of the IVs lost. It had also been a personal loss to John and Blue Team, with Lasky's disappearance being a hit to the Blue Team members who had been part of the Circinius IV rescue mission.

He asked, "What's going on, Admiral?"

"Doctor Halsey investigated the _Infinity_'s accident, using the Codex of Forerunner Artifacts to see what had exactly happened. The Artifacts on board caused a chain reaction, which seen the _Infinity_ to another universe. Halsey was able to recreate the malfunction, but this time it's supposed to happen. This will let you jump to different universes until you get to where the _Infinity_ ended up. We want Blue Team on board."

John looked at his team, which was his despite Fred's outranking of him, and said, "We'll go. Leave was getting boring anyway."

Hood smiled, then withdrew a box from his pocket.

"Here, Chief."

John took the box, and opened it, seeing the Commander bars he looked up to see Hood smiling, who said, "Congratulations, Commander. This was long overdue. Now, be at Crow's Nest within the week. I don't care how you do it, but I'm sure you'll manage something exciting Commander."

As Hood walked away, John called out, "Thank you, Terry!"

Hood chuckled, and said, "No problem, John. I'll see you in a week."

A.N.: Finished! Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Don't know how long the next chapter will take to be finished, although it's already halfway done! Looking for some ideas on how to get Blue Team to Crow's Nest, so send some in! And the carrier will be in action next chapter! Ginger out!

A.N. #2: So, that was my girlfriend who wanted to write my A.N. for this chapter. Which style of A.N. do you prefer? Mine or hers? Anyway, Ginger out.


End file.
